Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
SPED-511
Diversity Project
General Information:
The school that I am placed it is titled The Family Resource Center in Pittsburg, Kansas. My
cooperating teacher is Dan McNally. Dan is the lead teacher in his classroom at The Center and
has worked there for many years. He was very helpful during my diversity hours and he was
always there whenever I had questions about my target student. Dan knew that my target student
can be quite challenging, so he was always eager to provide me with the information and
resources that I needed to fully benefit from the time I spent with my target student.
The Family Resource Center is part of USD 250, so for my economic status and ethnicity
I used Pittsburg USD 250 as the district where I retrieved all of my information. The social
economic status of The Family Resource Center is 21% that are non-economically disadvantaged
and 79% are economically disadvantaged. The ethnicity of The Family Resource Center is 64%
white, 23% Hispanic, 10% other, and 3% African American. I also found that within the USD
250 district there are 17% of students that have a disability and 83% of students that do not have
a disability. I think that by knowing all of this information it really helped see the difference in
students and the different diverse situations that take place throughout the district.
The target student that I was placed with at The Family Resource Center is a male and he is four
and a half years old. The ethnicity of my target student is white. I am scheduled to work with my
target student on Tuesday and Thursdays from 11-12, right before lunch time.
Some of the background knowledge that is important to know about my target student is that
he has a really hard time focusing on pretty much everything. He needs a one-on-one at all times
because he has a tendency to run out of the classroom and away from his teachers, and without a
one-on-one he could harm himself or someone else. My target student has yet to be diagnosed
with any reason as to why my target student acts this way, but he does have a lot of one-on-one
supervision and he is getting screened often. The special education teachers at The Family
Resource Center have a strong feeling that he does have some sort of behavioral issue but they
Journal Entries:
09/20/2016
Today was my first day working with my target student. I was told by my cooperating teacher
that my target student is very difficult and can be very hard to handle. Of course, I was feeling
very nervous at that point. I was told that my job is to keep my target busy and to make sure he
does not run out of the classroom and does not cause harm to other children. I was also told that I
need to be sure that he doesn’t pester any of the other students, because he has a tendency to
badger other students for no apparent reason. Whenever I was finally introduced to my target
student, he was very shy. He didn’t really want me to be there, you could tell. He didn’t like
people to really be near him and he didn’t like when people asked him questions. I learned that it
would probably be best if I just sat and watched him for our first day together so that he will kind
of get used to me being around. By the end of the hour I had with him he had become a lot more
open with me. We joined his class for group time on the carpet and he had a hard time sitting still
and focusing so I found that he liked to sit on my lap, and whenever I let him he seemed to calm
down and pay better attention to what Dan was saying at circle time. Whenever I left I told him
goodbye and he did not care one bit that I was leaving. Hopefully we can make more progress
09/22/2016
Today whenever I entered the classroom to help my target student, he didn’t quite recognize me.
Of course, I kind of figured he wouldn’t remember me because I was only there for one hour and
he didn’t really care that I was there. However, whenever we started working, he seemed to be
more aware of me. He acted like he really wanted me to help him with things and actually be a
part of his routine. The time I am there is partly during recess time. He has a hard time with
recess because it is not very structured which can cause him to act out. He didn’t act out too
often today, but he did keep running away from me. I received strict orders from my cooperating
teacher to stay with my target student at all times so that he had no time to make a bad decision.
So, since I was told to not leave his side, I had to keep running after him, and soon I realized that
he thought that it was a game, and he thought it was funny. Whenever I got close enough to him,
we had a short talk about how we don’t run from our teachers and that I am here to help him. I
would ask him if he understood and he would nod. At this point, I am learning that he is not very
verbal at all, which causes me to understand why he acts the way he does.
09/27/2016
This is my third time working with my target student and I feel as if I have a new understanding
of him. I realize how hard it is for him to communicate with everyone, which is why he tends to
act out. I also realized that most of the students in his class noticed that he is different than them
and sometimes they don’t say very nice things to him, which also causes him to act out. I decided
that I would try my best to redirect the other students and tell them that they need to treat him
how they want to be treated. Whenever I get to the class, they are just finishing up their early
lunch. I walk in and my target student is running from the table and his face is very red. The
other students say his name over and over again and tell him he needs to sit down. I, however,
knew that something was wrong because I was told that he loves to eat, and I wouldn’t think that
he would just run away from the table for no reason. I ask him what is wrong and he spits his
food out in the trash can and says HOT as loud as he can and starts crying. I realize then that he
didn’t know how to express the pain he was feeling, so his only option was to jump up and run
away. I asked him if he was okay and told him I was so sorry that happened and I know it can be
painful. I also told him that he can avoid burning his mouth by blowing on his food before eating
it and then we practiced blowing on our food. I told my cooperating teacher that all the students
were shouting and my target student whenever he got up from the table and the cooperating
teacher told the other students that the target student is none of their concern and they need to let
09/29/2016
Whenever I walked into the classroom today, my target student was very excited to see me! He
said my name as if we had been best friends for the longest time. This made my heart so happy. I
was excited to see him as well because I think we are really creating a great bond. Today, we
created a fall craft. We painted with our fingertips to make fall leaves in a tree. I had to show my
target student how I wanted him to do this, so I had to create my own so he could see a clear
example. Whenever I showed him how to do this craft he seemed really excited, but they
changed rather quickly. Whenever I told him to dip his fingers in the paint, he started to become
very anxious and wanted to get up. He kept saying “no” over and over again. I think that his
senses were very heightened because of the paint and the texture of it. I did not make him
complete the fall tree with his fingers because I could tell that he really did not like it at all.
Instead, I let him paint with a paint brush. His looked different than his peers but I think it helped
him to feel like he was involved, even if he didn’t do it the same way as his peers. Some
modifications were made and I think that it went really well and we still learned a lot from the
lesson.
10/04/2016
Today whenever I got to the school I learned that my target student was not feeling very well. He
seemed to have some type of cold to where he couldn’t breathe very well out of his nose and he
had a very bad cough. The cooperating teacher told me that if I wanted to I could stay inside with
him instead of going outside and we could play in the gym. We stayed inside and played together
for a while. We threw the styrofoam frisbee around for a while but I could tell he really wasn’t
feeling well. Usually my target student’s class takes a nap after they come inside from recess but
my cooperating teacher said that instead, we could go ahead and start nap early. My cooperating
teacher gave me a weighted blanket to lay on my target student because it helps to calm him
down. Whenever I laid this blanket down, he fell asleep within about five minutes. I never knew
anything about weighted blankets and I didn’t even know they existed. I learned that I will have
a weighted blanket around my classroom, in case a child needs to calm down and take a minute
to themselves.
10/06/2016
Whenever I arrived today, I could tell that my target student was feeling a lot better. He waved at
me and said “Hi” over and over again until I said it back. I asked him if he was feeling better and
he nodded very excitedly. My cooperating teacher told me that if I wanted to do something fun
with my target student, we could walk down to the sensory room because my target student
really enjoys the things in there. Before this, I had never even know that such a room existed. We
entered the room and my target student yelled with joy and it was obvious that he has been in
there before. My target student doesn’t say many words but he does a lot of grunts and groans
whenever he wants something. Whenever we entered the room he grunted and stood by this huge
thing that is filled with water and he was indicating that he wanted me to turn it on. Whenever I
turned this machine on, my target students face lit up and he was so excited. The water turned
different colors and there were bubbles going up and down. He couldn’t stop staring at it and he
kept telling me to “look”. It was very sweet. Also, there was a huge ball pit and he showed me
how he has used it in the past. He gave me a ball to throw and I threw it in the ball pit and he
jumped in after it. I thought this was very cool and I also thought it was interesting how he knew
exactly what all of the equipment was for and how it was used and he tried to help me
understand it. I really learned a lot about a sensory room and how much fun they can be.
10/11/2016
Whenever I arrived today to help with my target student, the whole class was getting to know
me. They were all excited whenever I arrived and my target student was extra excited. I think
that we are finally forming a bond. My cooperating teacher again told me that if I wanted to do
something fun with my target student we could go back to the sensory room. I was excited to go
because there were a lot of toys and tools we had not used in my prior visit. Whenever we went
this time, there were special education teachers out in the hallway and they helped explain
everything really well to where I knew what I was doing. Whenever my target student and I went
to the sensory room this time we played a fun hand-eye coordination game. They have this tube-
like thing where my target student was standing and then I would throw him the ball and he
would have to try and catch it. I think the reason for him to be standing in the tube is so that
whenever he drops the ball he won’t have to go running after it multiple times. My target student
really enjoyed this exercise a lot. He did a really good job with catching most of the balls and
whenever he didn’t catch one he would giggle and say, “I silly”. It was really sweet and I feel
like he really enjoyed this time we spent together. Something else I noticed about the sensory
room is that it had lights that can be dimmed. I turned down the lights just a little bit and my
target student immediately knew what I had done. He said, “no no, leave lights on”. I could tell
10/13/2016
Today, while I was with my target student, we were outside for a little while. They were already
outside whenever I arrived and he had a one-on-one with him and whenever I got there she left
for just a little bit. She told me he was being a little aggressive today and he was having trouble
following directions. I said hello to my target student and he didn’t seem very interested in me at
all. You could tell he was distracted and didn’t want to be bothered. We walked around on the
playground for a while and then we went into the play house. He started throwing mulch and all
of the students that were in the house and they would ask him to stop and he would just continue
to throw it at them. I had to remove him from the situation because he was not using his listening
ears very well. I told him that he needed to be nice to his friends and he needed to listen to his
teachers. He seemed to understand what I was saying and I asked him if he was going to make
better choices and he answered me with, “yes yes yes!” So, we tried again. We walked around
for a while longer then he went up to a child on a bike and tried to push him off of the bike. He
didn’t hurt him, but it did frighten the other child a little bit. I told my target student that we
cannot treat our friends that way. At this point, it was time for me to leave so I told my
cooperating teacher how he had been acting and he was very disappointed. I think that my target
10/18/2016
Today whenever I arrived to see my target student he was very pleased to see me! He came
running up to me and gave me a huge hug. I was so happy about this because last time I had to
get on to him a few times. He seemed to have forgotten all about that, which I was glad. My
cooperating teacher informed me that they would be watching a movie today. He told me that I
could try and get my target student to sit and watch it or I could take him to the sensory room. I
chose to stay with the class because I think it is good for him to get as much classroom
interaction as possible. I started out with him sitting on the carpet like all of the other students
but he quickly became extra squirmy and would not sit still. The other students started to
complain because he was getting in the way and they couldn’t see the movie. To fix this
problem, I decided to sit on the carpet with him and told him he could either sit in my lap or right
beside me. He chose to sit in my lap, which I figured he would. Whenever he sat on my lap, he
sat and watched the whole entire movie very quietly. I could tell he was getting sleeping at the
end because I could feel his head nodding back and forth. I had to tap him every once in a while
to keep him from falling all the way asleep. Whenever the movie was over I asked him if he
liked the movie and of course he said yes. I told him that he did a really good job being quiet and
paying attention and he nodded his head really fast. My cooperating teacher told me that he
rarely sits through videos or movies. He said that he has never seemed interested in them and he
was very astonished that today he sat through an hour long movie. I was really excited too
10/20/2016
Today is my last mandatory day with my target student. My cooperating teacher was very sad to
see me go because he said that my target student had really become attached to me. Of course,
this made me sad too. The class was drawing a picture of themselves in their Halloween
costumes today. Of course, they were all mostly scribbles and stick figures, but they were still
cute. My target student didn’t understand the activity and instead he just colored his whole entire
paper orange. My cooperating teacher said that this was fine just as long as he didn’t peel off the
paper on the crayon. Which, of course, he did try to do several times but I stopped him. After we
colored our picture the class had centers. My target student got placed in the kitchen center. The
kitchen center is apparently the best center to be in. There were so many toys and my target
student wanted to dump out every single bucket of toys. I had to tell him that we can’t do that
because then we would have to clean all of it up and we wouldn’t want that. He nodded his had
as if he agreed with me. We played dress up and we put food in the oven for it to cook. Every
time we would put food in the oven he would make a “ding” noise with his mouth to indicate
that the food was ready. It was really cute. Whenever I was getting ready to leave I told him that
I wouldn’t be here as often anymore because I had to go to school. He didn’t really care very
much. But, even though I am done with my ten hours, I still plan on coming back on the days
that I am free to check up on him. I really loved getting to know my target student.
Key Experiences:
The specific skill that my target student and I worked on was hand-eye
coordination. This skill was very fun for us to practice because it involved
throwing and catching a ball. In the beginning, my target student was not very
good at catching the ball, but the more we practiced the better he got. He also
improved throwing the ball in the right direction. Whenever we started he would
throw the ball over me or to the side of me but the more we practiced the better he
2. Skill levels of the student(s) and/or specific problems experienced and how you
As a class they were all creating trees with fall leaves on them. They were
painting the leaves on with their fingertips. My target student did NOT like the
paint on his fingers and started having a melt down because of it. I quickly told
him that is was okay and that we could use other tools to make the leaves. We
found him a small paint brush that he could use for the leaves instead. He did
much better with this method because he didn’t have to touch the paint with his
hands. I think that his senses were very heightened whenever they paint was on
his fingers and that is why he didn’t like it. But, he had fun painting with a paint
brush and he also accomplished what the other kids in his class accomplished, just
in a different way.
3. Experiences you had with your student(s) other than tutoring type activities
One of the experiences I had with my target student is that we went to the sensory
room by ourselves. There were not any other students around and he felt like all
of the attention was on him. We went into the sensory room and he showed me all
of the fun things that they do in there and he showed me his favorite things. This
is an activity that we did together that was fun and very enduring.
4. Materials you collected, adapted, made or were given by the teacher to use in
One of the materials that the teacher gave me in order to better accommodate my
wasn’t feeling very well. I had never seen a weighted blanket before, so it was
very new to me. Whenever I laid the weighted blanket on my target student he
was very soothed and he fell right to sleep. I had never seen anything like it
One of the interests that my target student had was the water machine in the
sensory room. My target student absolutely loved the water machine and the way
it changed colors whenever you turned it on. He sat and watched the water
machine for quite some time and he was so very excited each and every time we
went to the sensory room just so he could see the water machine. He loved
Final Reflection:
This project really helped me see special education in a totally different light. I had no
idea what to expect before I started doing my diversity hours. As I progressed through my
required hours I began to realize how much I truly respected those who work with special
education every day. I realized that it is not an easy field to go into and it can be very stressful.
However, I also learned that it can be very rewarding. Every day that I went to visit my target
student he seemed so excited to see me and I felt as if I was truly having an impact on him and
his education. I think the biggest thing that I learned from this is that every single student needs
to feel loved and they will succeed at what they are trying to do.
teacher. I have seen some inconsiderate teachers over the years, and thanks to my time with my
target student, I will be one hundred percent positive that I will not be one of those teachers. This
diversity project really opened my eyes and helped me to see that all children are special and it is
our job as teachers to find the very best in every single student. I am so happy that I got the
opportunity to do this diversity project so that I could see different aspects of education. I think
this experience really enlightened me to a whole different way of thinking and teaching and I am